The Garden: A Spiritual Fable About Ways to Overcome Fear, Anxiety, and Stress

By Jon Gordon

From bestselling author Jon Gordon comes a spiritual fable about the power of faith, hope, and love

Meet Jay and Kay. They’re twins, and like many teenagers their age, they’re dealing with stress and anxiety. One day on their way to school, they have a nice conversation with their old family friend and youth soccer coach, Mr. Erwin, who shows them a special garden he created in his backyard. The garden serves as both a place and a metaphor for Mr. Erwin to share a powerful paradigm and practical strategies to help the twins overcome their fear, stress, and anxiety.

The Garden is an enlightening and encouraging spiritual fable that reveals the 5 D’s that can sabotage us and a proven plan to help us overcome and win the battle in our mind. Rooted in Jon Gordon’s faith tradition, this fable is a different kind of book than his previous business fables. However, in his familiar trademark style, he takes a complex subject and simplifies it to help people take action and improve their lives.

Everyone will struggle with fear, anxiety, or stress at some point in their lives, and everyone will have to overcome these challenges to create the life they were meant to live. Given that there are many contributing factors that influence how we think and feel, Jon wrote this book to share how the power of love, encouragement, truth, faith, and belief can be part of the solution. 

Having worked with countless leaders, companies, sports teams, professional athletes, and high school students, Jon Gordon infuses this life-changing story with thought-provoking ideas, practical strategies, and a framework to overcome fear with faith. 

Whether you are dealing with fear, stress, and anxiety yourself, have a family member that struggles, or are a mental health expert that works with clients, if any of the ideas in this book can be useful to you or the people you love and care about, then it’s worth a walk through The Garden with Jay, Kay, and Mr. Erwin to discover ways to persevere through life with the power of faith, hope, and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: May 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781119430667

Book preview

Introduction

Warning!

I felt I should put a warning label on this book because I'm known as a writer of business fables, and this is not a business fable. This is very different than my other books. This is spiritual fable rooted in my faith and it addresses the growing epidemic of fear, anxiety, and stress that are affecting millions of people around the world. Having worked with countless leaders, companies, sports teams, and professional athletes I've had intimate conversations and advised many who struggle with fear, stress, and anxiety. I've also spoken at numerous events for college and high school students and have talked with and encouraged many who have reached out the last few years. I've shared the principles and concepts in this book with them and have seen how it has helped them understand and win the battle of their mind.

With that said, even though a lot of mental health experts, counselors, and sports psychologists read and share my books I want you to know that I don't consider myself a mental health expert. And even though people who read my books say it helps their mental health I want to make it clear that this book should not be a substitute for seeing a counselor or getting professional help in dealing with fear, stress, and anxiety. I appreciate the role that mental health experts and counselors play in working with their clients to overcome their mental health challenges.

My goal in writing this is to help people understand the mental battle they are facing from a spiritual perspective. Psyche means soul and in many cases, our minds don't need fixing. Rather our soul needs healing. I personally struggled with depression and anxiety in my life and as I nourished my soul and fed my mind with meditation, prayer, and spiritual truths I found more peace, joy, and healing. A big part of this healing was sermons from Erwin McManus who brought Jesus to life for me when I was 35 years old. Erwin helped me realize that you can't win a spiritual battle with man-made strategies. You win it with a greater source of power, truth, and strength. It's the same with 12 step programs and why they all include a higher power.

A few years ago, while walking the streets of downtown Chicago before a talk to a group of business leaders, the 5 D's that I share in this book came to me, like a software download, and I began typing them into my phone. I clearly saw the battle we face and the plan to win the battle and knew I had to write and share this book to help more people overcome their fear, stress, and anxiety.

Is this book the only answer to solve the mental health epidemic? Of course not. The more we learn about the microbiome, (bacteria in our intestines) the more we learn how nutrition and gut health influence mental health. For years studies have shown that exercise and sleep are big factors in one's mood and mindset and new research is helping us understand how loneliness, isolation, and technology all play a role in our mental health. There are many contributing factors that influence how we think and feel on a daily basis and we need a holistic comprehensive approach that involves the mind, body, and spirit to help those who are struggling.

My hope with this book is to share a powerful perspective and paradigm that can be a part of the solution. You may not agree with the faith tradition from which these ideas originate but I believe you will find the 5 D's and practical strategies I share helpful. Whether you are dealing with fear, stress, and anxiety yourself; have a family member that struggles; or are a mental health expert that works with clients, if any of the ideas in this book can be useful to you or the people you love and care about, then I believe it's worthwhile to take a look.

In this spirit let's take a walk through The Garden and learn a spiritual paradigm combined with practical strategies to overcome fear, stress, and anxiety. I hope this story fills you with more faith, love, and hope so you can live with more peace and joy.

God bless you,

Jon

Chapter 1

Fears and Secrets

Jay and Kay walked past Mr. Erwin's house on their way to school each day. He had known them since they were babies, coached their youth soccer team, and watched them grow up as a neighbor and family friend.

There was a streetlight in front of his house and as Jay and Kay waited for the signal to cross the street, Mr. Erwin often greeted them while sitting on the front porch drinking his coffee. With his own children grown and on their own, he missed those days when they were in school and enjoyed seeing the twins and their brief conversations where he received updates of how they were doing. Kay had made the cheering team, was nominated for homecoming queen, and was obsessed about her grades and getting an academic scholarship to college. Jay loved being in the school's marching band, making short films with his friends, and was happy with his straight Bs in school. Mr. Erwin was thrilled to hear